Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire

One person can make a difference for millions through some concentrated thought, fine leadership and excellent communications. Find out how others have done it. Learn how to do it yourself! Help others to become world heroes and heroines as well.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Good morning, Future World Heroes and Heroines!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly know that I am as I write about this exciting topic.

Who were your favorite heroes and heroines at age 2? At age 5? At age 10? At age 15? At age 20? And now?

If you are like most people, you find it harder and harder to find heroes and heroines.

In a sense, heroism is out of style. People opt for money, fame and power instead. When was the last time you read about a heroic action by a billionaire? I am at a loss to think of one.

That's a shame because the world needs heroes and heroines now more than ever.

My wife and I visited Ambassador Stu Beck, permanent representative to the United Nations from Palau last week. I had been sharing with him some of the many examples of ways that my students from RushmoreUniversity were making a tremendous difference in the world. Let me describe a few examples for you:

In Africa, Dr. Elijah Chingosho has outlined a vision of how to develop safe, low-cost air travel that will spur economic, social and political development among the poorest African nations. His book on the subject has become a template for government and business leaders across the continent. You can read about his book on this subject at http://www.afraa.org/ebooksalespage.htm/.

In a poor African nation, another student (who chooses to remain anonymous) has developed a plan to provide vocational education to millions of unemployed African young people that requires no additional government resources. The plan is already creating large enrollment increases in his nation.

In Asia, the head of pediatrics at a leading hospital has devised a way to vastly increase the number of poor patients her hospital can serve at no additional cost.

In Thailand, a Japanese executive has developed a new approach to environmental best practices that involves operating a business so that it actually improves the environment . . . rather than just trying not to harm the environment too much.

In England, an IT staffer has developed several ingenious ways to reduce millions of hospital errors and the spreading of infections from one patient to another through automatically sterilizing computer keyboards.

In Africa, a dentist took on the challenge of improving entrepreneurial education and has launched a new educational program to build the economy and create thousands of jobs.

Each of these students is a hero or a heroine to me.

Let me explain.

The efforts that they have already made will inevitably lead to improving the lives of millions of people across vast parts of the world. Lives will be saved, illnesses will be avoided, families will prosper that would not otherwise have done, valuable products will be invented that would not otherwise have come to market, the world will be a cleaner and nicer place, and peoples' minds will be filled with constructive, valuable thoughts and knowledge.

Although it will take many people to create those improvements, the ideas that will lead to the improvements started with the thoughts of a single person.

Paradoxically, each of these heroes and heroines will tell you that what they did could and should have been done decades earlier. That, to me, is evidence that we need more people who want to use their minds to make a difference in creating a better world for us all.

Let me return to Ambassador Beck. He proposed that I start working to recognize these heroes and heroines who are making the difference in the lives of millions. He proposed that as a long-term goal, I seek funding to provide substantial prizes for those with the best accomplishments in this arena and to publicize the best ideas . . . so they would have wider application.

Ambassador Beck kindly volunteered to serve on the panel that would award the prizes.

I don't know how to do all that Ambassador Beck suggested yet, but I think he has correctly identified what needs to be done. This blog will be the beginnings of that effort.

I welcome your suggestions, your examples and your help in any other form.Here are some ideas where your assistance could make a difference in the near-term:

1. Establish a non-profit foundation that can focus attention on creating more world heroes and heroines along the lines of the examples I described among my students...

2. Find people who would like to learn how to become world heroes.

3. Raise funds to pay for poor people who would like to become world heroes but need some funding to do so.

E-mail me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com with your offers of help. Use "I Want to Help World Heroes" as your subject for the e-mail.

About Me

I'm a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and attended Harvard Business School to study marketing while in law school. I'm a member of the bar in Massachusetts.
I teach graduate courses in entrepreneurship and strategic management on-line at Rushmore University (www.rushmore.edu).
I head a consulting firm (www.mitchellandco.com), that specializes in entrepreneurship, finance and strategy.
I am a co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution (www.2000percentsolution.com), The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, The Ultimate Competitive Advantage (the most highly praised business book by customer reviewers in its first year), and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook.
I head a pro bono site for improving world progress (www.fastforward400.com).
I have headed The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind (see http://billiondollarbusiness.blogspot.com) since 2006.